How to Save a Life
by amdragjakelong'sgurl
Summary: Natsu Dragneel's sister takes the job to go to Hogwarts to protect Harry Potter. Along the way, she makes friends, enemies, haters and a lover, Fred Weasley. Follow her on her journey through the books as she discovers how to save a life. MARY SUE OC!
1. Authors Note

**Ms. Nina Dragneel is, in fact, a Mary-Sue, in my honest opinion. So lets get this straigt. I DON'T CARE that she's a Mary-Sue- I enjoy writing her! She's just something to write about-Someone I plan on having save Fred Weasley's life-Shouldn't be too hard to do that, considering it wasn't a curse that killed him, but an exploding wall. And here's another thing. You HAVE to review if you read the story. Leave good comments. Even if you're one of those people who are all "Rawr, I'm gonna be mean for no reason! Gahh! Oooh Ahhhh!" Go ahead and leave your flames, just as long as you review! Christ, People, it takes less then five minutes(Unless you are incredibly detailed.). Have a heart- REVIEW! But don't mention the Mary-Sueness. I already know that part. No need to rub it in. :P**

**Amdrag out...That was incredibly lame.**


	2. Chapter 1

Privit Drive was empty. It was late. Everyone was asleep in their beds, warm, unaware of the three beings standing on the porch of Number Four, the oldest holding a small bundle.

"This boy will be famous! There won't be a child in our world-not a single guild in Fiore- who doesn't know his name!" A witch wearing a hat and spectacles to accompany her green dress protested, trying to sway the older wizard from leaving the child with the muggles.

"Exactly. He is far better off growing up away from all of that. Until he is ready. And when he is, a member of Fairy Tail Guild will accompany him through the worst." The old wizard set the baby down on the door step.

Behind them, the abnormally large man cleared his throat, biting back a sob. The silver bearded elder turned around.

"There, there, Hagrid. It's not really goodbye, after all." The giant, Hagrid, nodded pitifully. All three looked down at the baby and the silver bearded wizard placed an envelope on the bundle. "Good luck, Harry Potter."

The slumbering baby on the doorstep had a fresh scar on his head, above his right eyebrow. Miles away, in the England branch of Fiore, the magical kingdom-not ruled by the Ministry of Magic- a phoenix landed outside of the Fairy Tail Guildmaster's door, tapping it's beak impatiently on the glass.

The old, tiny man's snoring sputtered as he awakened, rubbing his bleary eyes. He glanced out the window and sniffed, agitated.

"Albus doesn't seem to respect times anymore. The man must know that I would be asleep by now!" The Guildmaster, Makarov Dreyar, opened the window, and the fiery bird dropped the letter on his head on it's way in.

"Oh, thanks Fawkes." Makarov rolled his eyes and yawned as he opened the letter. "Let's see...

_My dear friend Dreyar,_

_I am most pleased to inform you that our mutual threat has been defeated. However, it comes with a terrible cost. Lily and James Potter are dead, their son, Harry now an orphan. It is young Harry who is responsible for the Dark Lord's defeat. I do not believe, however, that Voldemort is truely dead. I believe that Harry only wounded him drained his powers and weakened him. Therefore, I believe it would be wise if, when Harry arrives to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in ten years time, you send one, perhaps two of your younger guild members to protect him. I ask you this my friend, not because you owe me for saving you from that roug troll years ago, but because you and your guild members are simply the only ones I trust with this. Please respond at your earliest convenience._

_Albus Dumbledore_

Makarov snorted at the troll bit. You need to get rescued one time and suddenly you owe a man a hundred favors. He turned the parchment over, grabbed a quill and wrote back his agreement quickly, sending it with Fawkes.

Ten years later, a now much older, though not much taller, Makarov burst into the Dragneel household without so much as a knock, followed by Hagrid. Two pink headed siblings looked up from the breakfast they'd been eating.

The eleven year old Nina Dragneel reacted before her eighteen year old brother Natsu.

"'Allo, Hagrid!" She jumped up and hugged Hagrid around the waist as much as possible.

"Hello, Nina! I got something for ye!" He pulled out a letter with the Hogwarts seal on the back.

"A job?" Natsu asked, crossing his arms with a grin on his face. "What do you think, kid?" Natsu put his hand atop Nina's head. She shook her head, reading the letter quietly under her breath. Natsu turned his black eyes to Makarov.

"3,000 Jewel for each month you keep Harry Potter alive." Makarov nodded. "That's Fiore currency. You'll get a substantial amount of wizarding currency too."

There was silence as Nina finished reading her acceptance letter into Hogwarts, and then moved on to a letter written to her specifically from Albus Dumbledore, before moving on to her supplies. Then she looked up to realize everyone was staring at her.

"So, Hagrid...Can we go get Harry?" She smiled.

"That's why I'm here. I just brought him from those ruddy Muggles he's been living with. He's right at the Guild. I just thought to come get you on account of you needing the same school supplies.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go get him!" Nina ran into the room she shared with Natsu, grabbing her jacket and a ring of keys, with countless silver and 12 gold keys, as well as a deck of cards.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Natsu grabbed the back of her hood, pulling her back to him. Nina giggled and hugged her brother. "Bring Happy, okay?"

"Oh, fine." Nina huffed. "Happy!"

The little blue cat hopped off the table and onto the girl's shoulder.

"Can't believe I just got thrown into babysitting duty."

Nina's expression darkened. She pinched Happy's cheeks and pulled.

"Who you calling baby, Cat?"

"Jeeze, Lucy's dad made her leave and everything but I'm still being treated like this." Happy whined.

Lucy Heartfilia had left the Guild to keep it from being sent into a war that would rival that of Voldemort and the Order of the Phoenix. She had left Nina with the celestial gate keys, and poor Natsu with a hole in his chest.

Hagrid followed Nina back to the Guild. Nina spotted Harry Potter instantly, skipping up to him.

"Hi! You must be Harry! I'm Nina! I have a feeling we'll be good friends this coming year!" She folded her hands behind her back and grinned. Harry appraised the girl in front of him. Her hair was pink, although most would take it to be strawberry blonde. It was styled in a short bob, spiked out wildly.(A/N: Like Alice Cullen's in the movies) Her eyes were black, though they didn't seem at all dull or lifeless like one would expect- in fact they shined and twinkled happily. She was wearing a hooded leather jacket, over a flannel shirt, obviously a mans, but cut so that it revealed half the Fairy Tail Guild brand, the other half hidden by her black ruffle skirt. The look was completed with a pair of worn out knee high converse. He made note to ask her about the keys and cards in her front jacket pockets later.

"Hello." Harry nodded, smiling at her as he met her eyes again. Nina grinned brighter. Hagrid cleared his throat. Nina looked back at him, before grabbing Harry's hand and dragging him to a door next to the bar. "Where are we going?"

"To the Leaky Cauldron, of course!" Nina laughed. She then paused, remembering that he wouldn't know what that is. "That's a bar and Inn in London. A wizards bar and Inn of course. Every Guild in Fiore-that's where we are now- has a portal leading there." She opened the door and walked right through, pulling Harry along.

"Oh..."

"It's a little overwhealming at first. You'll get used to it soon, though, don't worry!"

Hagrid chuckled behind them, carrying Happy in the crook of his elbow. Nina wasn't sure when she'd lost the little cat.

"Ah! Hagrid! The usual, I presume?" The toothless barkeep, Tom, called over. Nina hooked an arm through Harry's, smiling reassuringly.

"No thanks, Tom! I'm here on official Hogwarts business. Just helping young Harry and the little Fairy Tail witch buy their school supplies."

Tom froze.

"Bless my soul...It's Harry Potter and Nina Dragneel!"

Conversation stopped completely. The an old wizard reached forward and shook Harry's hand.

"Welcome back Mr. Potter! Welcome back!"

A witch leaned up and grabbed Nina's.

"Dorris Crawford, Miss. Dragneel. I assure you'll be keeping Mr. Potter safe?" The witch watched Nina nod. "Oh, I can't believe I'm meeting you both at last!"

"Harry P-P-Potter!" A man in a turban stepped up, nervously. "Can't tell you how p-p-pleased I am to meet you! And you as well, Ms. D-Dragneel!"

"Oh, hello, Professor! I didn't see you there!" Hagrid smiled. "Harry, Nina, this is Professor Quirrell! He'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, at Hogwarts."

"Oh!" Harry held his hand out for the man to shake. Nina tilted her head to the side. "Nice to meet you."

Quirrell gave Harry's hand a scouring look.

"F-F-Fearfully f-facinating subject. N-n-not that you n-need it, E-eh, P-Potter."

'Dear God, I hope I don't have to listen to that all year. Pleas tell me he's just a shy man.' Nina's eyes rolled to the ceiling.

Hagrid cleared his throat.

"Well, must be off now. Lots to buy, and two of everything!"

"Bye!" The kids waved at their teacher. Nina rolled her eyes again once they were out of sight.

"See, Harry! You're famous!" Hagrid led them out back.

"But why? All of those people in there, how is it they know who I am? What did they mean by Nina protecting me?"

"I'm not exactly sure I'm the right person to tell you about the first question, Harry." Hagrid tapped on the brick wall.

"But as for the second, I'm a Fairy Tail Mage. Kinda my job to protect people."

Harry watched in amazement as the brick wall opened and revealed Diagon Alley.

"Welcome, Harry, to Diagon Alley!" Hagrid grinned. "Here's where you get your ink. And over here all your bits and bobs for doing your wizardry."

"But Hagrid!" Harry stopped his amazed gawking to look up at the giant. "How am I to pay for all this? I haven't any money!"

"Well there's your money, Harry!" Hagrid pointed at Gringotts Bank. "Gringotts, the wizarding bank! Ain't no safer place, not one. Except perhaps Hogwarts."


	3. Chapter 2

Harry looked around, freaked out, at all the goblins in Gringotts. He looked at Nina, but she just had her hands in her pockets, searching them for something. She pulled out a stick of gum, grinning in triumph.

"Nina? What exactly are these things?" He whispered, sliding closer to her, pretty confident that she could already do magic.

"Goblins." She whispered back. "Clever as they come, but they have wicked tempers."

Hagrid led them up to a goblin.

"Mr. Harry Potter would like to make a withdrawl."

"Oh," The goblin sneered down at Harry. "And does Mr. Harry Potter have his key?"

"Oh, hang on, got it here somewhere!" Hagrid gave himself a quick check. "Hah! There's the little devil...Oh and there's something else." He handed the goblin an envelope. "Professor Dumbledore gave me this. It's about you-know-what in vault you-know-which."

Harry and Nina gave each other strange looks.

"Very well," The goblin nodded.

They went down to Harry's vault first, and then to Nina's, which was filled with both Fiore and Ministry issue currency. She exchanged all the Jewel she had for Knuts, Galleons and Sickles.

Then they came to vault 713. Which had treasure unknown to the two children. Hagrid wouldn't tell them.

"Stand back!" The goblin ordered. He drew his finger down the center of the door, unlocking it. There was just some tiny little bundle wrapped sitting on a pedestal.

"Best neither of you mention this to anyone, kids." Hagrid slipped the bundle into his inside pocket.

Harry and Nina looked at eachother, before nodding up at Hagrid. When they left Gringotts, they went to get everything they needed for school. Coming out of Madam Malkin's from buying robes, Harry and Nina looked at their lists.

"We still need wands, Hagrid!" Nina grinned up at him. She never had a wand, growning up in a Guild kind of eliminated the need for a wand.

"Well, run along to Ollivanders, then. I need to get something!"

"Okay!" Nina once again dragged Harry along, and the boy had no complaints. She pushed the door to Ollivanders open and stood in the center of the room to wait. And then she got tired of waiting. "Ollivander!"

Harry jumped as Ollivander slid his ladder into view. He smiled at the two of them.

"I wondered when I'd be seeing you two. Mr. Potter, it seems only yesterday that your mother and father were in here buying their first wands. Ah!"

Ollivander had gone into the back quickly, grabbing a few wand boxes that had the Fairy Tail Guild brand stamped under his name before pulling out a wand box for Harry.

"We'll try Mr. Potter first, shall we, Ms. Dragneel?"

Nina nodded, taking a seat in the corner. Ollivander handed Harry a wand. Both of them looked at eachother expectantly, before Ollivander realized Harry didn't know what to do.

"Give it a wave!"

Harry jumped and flicked the wand. Boxes of wand materials flew from their places, creating noise and mess. Harry quickly set the wand on the counter, hands off.

"Apparently not." He grabbed a different box. "Try this." He gave the boy an new wand. Harry waved it. A vase exploded loudly, making Harry jump back, and Ollivander's eyes widen. "No, No! Definately not!"

Harry gingerly set the wand down.

"I wonder..." Ollivander handed Harry a wand made of dark wood. As soon as Harry's hand wrapped around the handle, the lights flickered, and a warm breeze flowed through the room. "Curious...Very curious."

"Sorry...But what's curious?" Harry's hair had been moved to show his scar.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. And it just so happens the the phoenix whose tail feather resides in your wand gave another feather. Just one other. It is curious that you should be destined to carry this wand, Mr. Potter, when it's brother gave you that scar...Now, Ms. Dragneel!"

Nina jumped up, literally.

"Sir!"

Ollivander grinned at her and placed Harry's discarded wands back in their cases. He picked up the boxes with the brand on them, pulling out a wand slowly.

Nina gave it a wave, and fire flew from the eagle tipped wand. Nina dropped it, pulling the fire back to her and squashing it quickly.

"No." Ollivander shook his head. He handed her another. Nina swished, wand boxes everywhere flew from their places, and a lamp next to Harry's head exploded.

"No, no, no! Next!"

This continued on until they reached the very last Fairy Tail Guild wand.

It was well known the a Guilded Mage's wand was more unique, more detailed, than a normal witch or wizard, because Guilded Mages had more raw power and therefore they needed more detailed and more powerful wands.

The wand in Nina's hand now was one of the more simple ones- with a handle made of red ivory diamond wood, spiraled in a comfortable fashion, and the shaft of the wand made of bloodwood, with a bone endcap and a carnelian tip with silver accents.

As soon as she had a good grip, the lights flickered, the breeze returned, and when she waved it, the shop was put right again. Ollivander smiled fondly.

"Ironic that a wand with a dragon and mermaid scale core would choose you. The wand chooses the wizard. It's not always clear why, but what I think is clear, is that we can expect great things from the two of you. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible, yes, but great."

Ollivander cashed them out just as Hagrid knocked on the door, holding up a Snowy Owl and grinning at Harry, wishing him a happy birthday.

They ate lunch in silence, until Harry began asking questions. Hagrid had no choice but to tell Harry about Voldemort.

"I remember those times!" Happy nodded, crossing his arms as he stood on the table. It was the first he'd talked, and Harry's eyes widened at this fact. "Voldemort gathered some followers, brought them over to the Dark Side. Anyone who stood up to him ended up dead."

"Oh, stop acting like you were there, Cat! You're only about six." Nina rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Harry. Your parents fought against him, but nobody lived once he decided to kill them. Nobody-Not one. Except you."

"Me? Voldemort tried to kill me?"

"Yeah. That ain't no ordinary cut on your forehead, Harry." Hagrid sighed.

"A mark like that only comes from being touched by a curse, and an evil curse at that."

"What happened to V- To You-Know-Who?"

"Well," Nina crossed her legs. "Some say he died. But Hagrid, a lot of the Guild Masters, Dumbledore and myself don't believe that. It's why I'm going to Hogwarts with you. To keep you safe, just in case."

"Something about you stopped him that night. That's why you're famous. That's why everybody knows your name. You're the boy who lived." Hagrid told him.

The next day, Hagrid left Nina in charge of getting Harry to the train on time. He overlooked the fact that Nina had no clue how to get to platform 9 3/4.

They ended up following after a group of redheads who had said the word 'Muggles'.

"Alright Percy, you first." The mother ordered. Percy ran through the column point blank. Nina made an 'Ohh' sound, while Harry just freaked out.

"Alright, Fred, you next." She told her twins. One of the twins caught Nina's eye and winked. She blushed, but she had the common sence to pick out differences between the two. The one who had winked had a scar on his nose, probably from chicken pox, and another scar in the hairline of his eyebrow. The other had slightly sharper features, and a small, yet attractice bump on his nose. Both had warm brown eyes.

"He's not Fred, I am!" The twin who hadn't winked protested.

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother." The one who winked sighed.

"Oh, sorry, George." The woman sighed.

"I'm only joking. I am Fred." Fred grinned, before running onto the platform, followed swiftly by his twin.

"Excuse me!" Harry snapped out of his amazed daze, snapping Nina out of her twin induced one as well. "Could you tell us how to-" He nodded at the wall.

"How to get on to the platform? Yes, of course, not to worry, dears. It's Ron's first time as well." She nodded to her final son. Nina grinned at him. "All you do is walk straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten. Best to do it at a bit of a run, if you're nervous."

Harry's eyes widened again, nodding at Nina. Nina rolled her eyes, but sucked it up. Taking care of Harry was her job, and at 3,000 Jewel a month, she'd gladly walk through a wall for the boy. Harry followed after her quickly. She didn't allow Harry the time to gawk. She pulled him onto the train, their trunks floating behind them on a cloud of cool blue flames.


	4. Chapter 3

"Excuse me?" Nina and Harry looked up. That Ron kid from before was standing at their compartment door. "Do you mind? Everywhere else is full."

"Go ahead," Nina nodded to the seat across from her and Harry. "Those adoreable twin brothers of yours wouldn't let you sit with them?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to sit with them anyway." Ron held out his hand as he sat down. "I'm Ron Weasley."

"Nina Dragneel. This is Harry Potter." Nina shook his hand.

Ron's jaw dropped, and his eyes darted back and forth between the two. His eyes settled on Harry.

"So...It's true! I mean...Do you you really have the, the-" He pointed at his head.

"The what?" Harry asked.

"The scar!"

"Oh!" Harry grinned and lifted his hair up. "Yeah."

"And you!" Ron's eyes darted to Nina. "Do you have a Guild brand already?"

"Yup!" Nina stood and rolled down the top of her skirt a little. It showed all the rest of the Fairy Tail brand. It was black, contrasting sharply with her pale skin.

"Wicked. I mean you both are just totally wicked!"

Nina and Harry grinned over at each other.

The trolley witch came by.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

"No thanks," Ron sighed, holding up poorly plastic wrappes snadwiches. "I'm all set."

Harry looked at him sympathetically before turning to the witch.

"We'll take the lot!" He pulled out a handful of Galleons. Ron's eyes widened again.

"Whoa!"

The witch smiled at the quickly forming friendships, and pushed the cart in.

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Harry held up the box before popping one in his mouth.

"They mean every flavor. There's chocolate and peppermint, and also liver, spinach and tripe. George swears he got a booger-flavored one once!"

Harry next held up a chocolate frog.

"These aren't real frogs, are they?"

"It's just a spell." Nina grinned. "But it's the cards you want."

"Huh?"

"Each pack has a famous witch or wizard. I've got about 500 myself." Ron explained. Harry opened the box, and it jumped out the window. Nina winced.

"That's so sad. They've only got one good jump anyway. Who'd you get?"

"Dumbledore!"

"Ahh."

"I've got about six of him!"

"Hey, he's gone!"

"He's headmaster. Can't expect him to hang around all day."

"Oh, I never introduced Scabbers!" Ron held up his rat. "Pathetic, isn't he?"

"Just a little..."

"Fred gave me a spell to turn him yellow, wanna see?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded. Nina sat up straighter.

Ron pulled out his wand, and cleared his throat as he positioned the rat on his lap.

"Sunshine-" He cut himself off and looked up at the bushy brown haired girl that had appeared at the door.

"Have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one...Oh! Are you doing magic?" Ron nodded. "Let's see then."

Ron cleared his throat again.

"Sunshine dasies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!"

Nothing happened to Scabbers, but the box on his head flew off. Nina giggled. Harry and Ron shrugged.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it?" She sat down next to Nina. "Of course, I've only tried a few simple ones myself, but they've all worked for me." She pulled out her wand, pointing it at Harry. "For example: _Oculus Reparo_." Harry's glasses fixed themselves. He pulled them off and examined them. "Holy cricket! You're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger. And...The two of you are...?"

"I'm Ron Weasley." Ron told her, his mouth full of the candy he'd taken a bite of.

"Nina Dragneel."

"Pleasure." She turned back to Harry. Nina huffed, a small amount steam from the fire constantly burning inside her exiting her mouth. "You all better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon." She turned to Ron. "You've got dirt on your nose, by the way. Did you know? It's there." She pointed to her own nose before walking away. Nina rolled her eyes.

When they arrived to the train station, they went up to Hagrid.

"Hagrid!" Nina hugged the giant.

"Hello Nina! Harry!"

"Hi, Hagrid." Harry grinned.

"Wow." Ron was staring wide eyed up at Hagrid.

"Right then. Come this way to the boats. Follow me!"

Nina looked up at Hagrid.

"Can I take Aquarius?"

Hagrid paused, looked at the lake and then down at the eleven year old.

"Sure why not. Listen up first years! Your first lesson on Mages! Celestial Magic!"

Nina grinned up at him and pulled a golden key from a chain hanging from her skirt.

"Open-Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!" Nina slammed the key into the water and turned it like she was opening a door with it. Aquarius appeared in the water. The students around all gasped and made noises of shock.

"A FISH!" Happy jumped up from inside Hagrid's jacket. Nina grabbed him and squeezed him against her.

"Not for you!" She shook the blue cat violently.

"That was wicked!" Ron announced. Nina grinned.

"That's the power of a celestial wizard. When I use the gate keys I can summon spirits from the spirit world to help me."

"What do you want, kid. I'm on a time limit, remember?"

"HEY! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO COME FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD TO HELP ME, NOT TO GIVE ME ATTITUDE! Now take me to that castle."

Aquarius rolled her eyes and grabbed Nina, pulling her under the water. They came up on the other side of the lake quickly.

"After this don't call me for a while. I may like you better than Lucy but that doesn't mean I don't wanna spend time with my boyfriend. And he's hot." Aquarius vanished and Nina rolled her eyes, shaking water off of herself, drying off reletively quickly with her fire magic.

She waited for the boats to dock and then quickly found Ron and Harry. They walked up to a witch who greeted them at the entrance to the great hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts! Now, in a moment you will enter the great hall but before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Now why you're here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule-breaking and you will loose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup."

"TREVOR!" A boy launched himself at a toad at the witches feet. Laughter came from around the hall. The witch looked down at him, eyebrow raised. "Sorry."

"The sorting ceremony will begin shortly." She walked away.

"It's true then." Nina, Harry and Ron all turned to face a white-blonde boy. "What they're saying on the train. Harry Potter and Nina Dragneel have come to Hogwarts." He stepped up to them as whispers filled the crowd. "This is Crabbe, Goyle. And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Nina elbowed Ron in the ribs when he snorted. Malfoy rounded on him.

"Think my name is funny, do you? No need to ask for yours. Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley."

Ron looked down at the floor. Nina rolled her eyes and wrapped a friendly arm around Ron's shoulders, blue fire curling off her fingers and around her, Ron and Harry. The whispers got louder.

"You'll soon learn that some wizarding families are better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

"I think we can tell the wrong sort for ourselves, thanks."

Malfoy glared. The witch came back with rolled up parchment, hitting Malfoy in the shoulder with it. Malfoy went to stand back with his friends.

"We're ready for you now. Follow me." The witch led them into the great hall. "Professor Dumbledore has a few announcements before we begin."

"I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. The first years, please note, that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students who are not a member of a Guild. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you."

"Now when I call your name, you will come forth. I will place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Hermione Granger."

Hermione talked to herself as she walked up the stairs and sat on the stool.

"Mental, that one. I'm telling you.." Ron murmered.

"Ah, right then. Okay, right. GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table erupted into loud cheers. Nina smiled, catching Fred's eye as he cheered. He winked again.

"Draco Malfoy."

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat hadn't even touched his head.

"There isn't a witch or wizard who was put in Slytherin that didn't go bad." Ron murmered.

"Susan Bones." Nina's attention was drawn away from the sorting when Harry gasped in pain.

"Harry?" He moved his hand from the scar to look at it. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"HUFFLEPUFF." Nina's attention returned.

"Ronald Weasley." Ron sent his friends a pitiful look before making his way to the sorting hat.

"HAH!" Ron jumped when the sorting hat shouted. "Another Weasley. I know just what to do with you! GRYFFINDOR!"

"Harry Potter."

Nina's head shot up. Harry walked hesitantly up the stairs and sat down.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

She saw Harry grin widely. The rest of the ceremony Nina didn't pay attention, until she noticed she was the only one left standing there.

"Nina Dragn-"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Nina's wide eyes locked with Dumbledore's twinkling blue ones. That hat was nowhere near her- it had sorted her before her name was even finished being said.

There was silence for all of five seconds before Harry, Ron, Fred and George errupted into cheers, quickly followed by the rest of Gryffindore house. Nina grinned and skipped to the table. The twins moved apart for her and she sat happily between them.

Dumbledore announced the feast and everybody dug in. A head popped out of the mound of chicken wings Ron was about to demolish.

"Hello! How are you? Welcome to Hogwarts!" He nodded at Ron, rising fully.

"Good Evening, Sir Nicholas! How was your summer?" Ron's brother Percy asked.

"Dismal, as usual. My request to join the Headless Hunt has been denied."

"Hey, I know you! You're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I prefer Sir Nicholas, if you don't mind!"

"Nearly headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

Harry rolled his eyes at Hermione. Nina kicked him under the table.

"Like this."

The ghost pulled his head to the side, only being held on by a thin layer of flesh. Ron jumped, screaming. Hermione made a disgusted face. Harry supressed a smile and Nina just outright started laughing.

Nicholas smiled at Nina and floated away.


	5. Chapter 4

"Gryffindors follow me please. Keep up. Thank you. This is the most direct path to the dormitories. And keep an eye on the staircases. They like to change." Percy informed, leading them up said staircases. "Keep up please. Quickly now, come on!" Percy led them up to the seventh floor, stopping before a portrait of a Fat Lady.

"Password?" She requested.

"Caput Draconis."

The portrait swung open, and Percy made his way through.

"Follow me, everyone. Keep up! Welcome to the Gryffindor common room. The Boys dormitories are upstairs and down to the left. Same for the girls on the right. You'll find all your belongings have already been brought up."

Nina spent the first night watching out the window, talking with Happy and trying not to wake Hermione and the other three girls.

The next day, Harry and Ron were late for their first class, making Nina roll her eyes, as well as Hermione. Harry and Ron sat down next to Nina.

"Can you imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late?" Ron sighed. Nina giggled. "What's so funny?"

There was a cat sitting on McGonagall's desk. The cat jumped off and morphed into Professor Mcgonagall.

Ron's eyes widened.

"That was bloody brilliant, Professor!"

"Thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley. Perhaps it'd be more useful if I transfigured Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch. That way one of you might be on time."

"We got lost," Harry winced.

"Then perhaps a map?"

The next class was potions. Snape burst in, silencing all conversation.

"There will be no wand waving or silly incantations in this class. Furthermore I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. However, for those select few who posses the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses, I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death." Snape spied Harry taking notes. "Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidible that you feel confident enough to NOT PAY ATTENTION."

"Harry!" Nina hissed. He looked up at her and then at Snape.

"Mr. Potter...Our new celebrity. Tell me what would I get if I added root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Hermione's hand shot up into the air. Harry shook his head. "You don't know? Well let's try again. Where would you look if I asked you to find a bezoar?" Hermione's hand shot up again.

"I don't know, sir."

"And what is the difference between monkswood and wolfsbane?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Pity. Clearly, fame isn't everything, is it Mr. Potter?"

And then the next day at breakfast-

"_Eye of rabbit, harp string hum, turn this water into rum._" Seamus Finnigan was waving his wand over a goblet of water.

"What's Seamus trying to do?" Harry asked Nina, who was settled next to Dean Thomas and Fred. His twin wasn't in sight, but he had to be close.

"He's trying to turn the water into rum. He actually managed a weak tea yesterday before-"

Nina was cut off by Fred yanking her into him as Seamus's goblet exploded. Laughter resounded, and she could feel Fred shaking with it.

Happy flew over the table, crashing into Nina. She caught the little cat in her arms as his wings vanished.

"Nina! Nina! MAIL!" Happy pulled out her mail from the green sack on his back. "You've got letters from Lucy, and from Natsu and Cana. OH YEAH! And Makarov said to tell you Gringotts was broken into; vault 713. AND! We have S-Class mission!"

"How did you get that, Happy? We're not allowed on the second floor of the Guild!" Nina grabbed the mission from Happy's hands.

"Well, I just climbed the stairs...And took it!" Happy grinned.

"YOU LITTLE CAT BURGLAR!"

"You gotta help Natsu and me. This summer! It was the smallest reward, but 7000 is still a lot of Jewel."

"Jesus, you sound like Natsu. I'm not going anywhere with the two of you!" Nina pouted and turned towards a laughing Fred

"On top of the seven thousand Jewel, you also get a gate key!"

Nina paused, turning slowly away from Fred to face the cat.

"A gate key?"

"Yep! A GOLD ONE!"

Nina's head dropped, and she sighed, defeated.

"This summer it is."

"YEAH!" Happy made to fly off to the dorms, but Nina grabbed his tail.

"Hold on cat. What vault in Gringotts did you say got broken into?"

"713, but nothing was stolen. The vault they broke into was empty."

"713? That's the vault we went to with Hagrid." Harry looked at Ron and Nina, and they all looked across at Hermione.

That afternoon they had their first flying lesson.

"Stick your right hand over your broom and say 'up'" Madame Hooch ordered.

Harry and Nina's brooms flew up instantly Hermione couldn't even get hers off the ground. Ron's smacked him in the face. Harry and Nina laughed quietly.

"Shut up, the both of you!" Ron hissed.

"Now mount your brooms. When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, then touch down. Ready, 1, 2, 3!" Madame Hooch blew her whistle. Neville's broom took control, all Neville could do was hold on tight. It flew him high above the ground. The Slytherins were laughing as Neville was being jerrked around in the air.

"Down, Down!" He begged. His insane ride finally stopped after his robes got caught on a statue. And then he fell to the ground. A broken wrist was the result.

"Everyone is to stay firmly on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. I see one broomstick in the air and the one riding it will be out of Hogwarts before you can say Quidditch." Madame Hooch walked Neville into the castle.

"Maybe if he'd given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat arse!" Malfoy laughed, tossing Neville's remembrall in the air.

"Give it here, Malfoy!" Harry ordered, holding his hand out.

"No, I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find." Malfoy got on his broom. "How about on the roof? What's the matter Potter? Bit beyond your reach?"

Harry mounted his broom. Hermione pushed her way through through the crowd.

"Harry, no way! You heard what Madame hooch said! And besides, you don't even know how to fly!"

Harry ignored her, kicking off the ground.

"What an idiot." Hermione blinked.

"That's what I'm here for." Nina laughed, taking off as well.

"Give it here, Malfoy or I'll knock you off your broom!"

"Is that so?" Malfoy dodged Harry. "Have it your way, then." He threw the remembrall as far as he could. Harry took off after it, and Nina after Harry. He caught the remembrall just before McGonagall's office, and Nina grabbed the end of his broom so he wouldn't crash. The jerk that the broom gave made Harry drop the ball. Nina dove, catching it again and landing swiftly on the ground in front of the Gryffindors. She waited for Harry while recieving pats on the back by her fellow first years.

"The two of you are completely Wicked!" Dean exclaimed.

"Harry Potter, Nina Dragneel." Everyone turned to face Professor McGonagall. "Follow me." She led them to a classroom, and she came out with a boy who looked to be about two years older than Fred and George.

"Nina."

"Oliver."

Fred and George had introduced her to him during the feast.

"Wood, I've found you your new seekers."

Oliver had told Nina that their Quidditch seekers had finished last year, and therefore they were in need of new ones.

After discussing being on the team, Nina and Harry had to run to meet with Ron.

"Seekers?" Ron was appalled. "First years never make the house teams! You must be the youngest in-"

"A century. According to McGonagall."

"Hey, well done you two! Wood's just told us!" George came over to Harry's side, Fred on Nina's.

"Fred and George are on the team too. Beaters." Ron explained.

"Our job is to make sure you don't get bloodied up too bad. Can't make any promises, though." Fred draped an arm around Nina. "Rough game, Quidditch!"

"Brutal!" George added. "But no one's died in years. Someone will vanish occasionally-"

"-But they'll turn up in a month or two!"

Nina slapped Fred and George on the back of their heads, slipping back under Fred's arm to break off from them with Harry and Ron.

"Don't worry Harry. Quidditch is great. You'll be great too!"

"I've never played, what If I make a fool of myself."

"You won't make a fool of yourself. It's in your blood. And flying in the air is in Nina's blood."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Nina was raised by a dragon, of course."

Ron's eyes widened. Harry already knew this.

"No, I mean about me. What's in my blood?"

"Oh, I'll show you!" Hermione led them to the trophy hall. She pointed at a trophy that had the Quidditch players on it. On one of the places labled seeker there was the name James Potter.

"Wow! Harry, you never told me your dad was a seeker too!"

"How could he possibly know that?" Nina slapped Ron's shoulder hard. He rolled his eyes and they all started going back to the dorms.

"I'm telling you, it's spooky. She knows more about you then you do!"

"Who doesn't?" Harry sighed. Everyone shouted when the staircase they were on suddenly lurched and began to move.

"What's happening?" Ron cried.

"The staircases change, remember? Listen to your brother for once, Ronald!" Nina grabbed onto the stone railway.

"Let's go this way," Harry gestured to the door the staircase had directed them to.

"Before the staircase moves again!" Ron grabbed Nina's arm and pulled her along. Nina grabbed Hermione's hand as well. "Does anybody feel like we shouldn't be in here?"

The corridor they had entered was dark, giving off an eerie feeling. Nina held out her hand, flames springing forth into her palm. Harry and Ron gave her a thankful look.

"We're not supposed to be here! It's the third floor, it's forbidden!" Hermione explained.

"Hermione, how did you possibly get into Gryffindor? You don't have a sense of adventure." Nina's brow rose.

"Well, I have no choice but to be on this adventure."


	6. Chapter 5

"Let's go back," Harry announced, when a fire was lit on a column. They turned around, but behind a meow stopped them.

"It's Filch's cat!" Nina hissed.

"Run!" Harry urged. He took off first, everybody following after him. "Hurry! Hide through that door!" Harry tried to open it. "It's locked!"

"We're done for!" Ron whined.

"Oh, move over!" Hermione shoved Harry gently out of the way. "_Alohomora_!"

The lock opened instantly. Nina pushed Harry in after Hermione. Ron looked at her.

"Alohomora?"

"_Standard Book of Spells. _Chapter 7." Nina replied, grabbing his forearm and pulling him in, closing the door after him. She waited for a few seconds, listening at the door. "Filch is gone."

"He thinks this door is locked."

"It _was_ locked." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"And for good reason..." Harry pointed in front of him. There was a huge three headed dog there, seeming to be waking up from a nap. It saw them, and began growling. Harry, Ron and Hermione screamed loudly, backing up behind Nina. She had time to see a trap door under it's feet before Harry pulled her out of the room. They all had to push against the door to close it again.

No one spoke until they got to the Common Room.

"What are they thinking? Keeping a thing like that locked in a school!"

"You don't use your eyes, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?" So Hermione had seen the trap door too.

"I wasn't looking at it's feet! I was preoccupied with it's heads. Or maybe you didn't notice. THERE WERE THREE."

"Shh!" Nina hissed.

"It was standing on a trap door. It wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something."

"Guarding something?" Harry repeated.

"That's right. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed, before any of you three come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse; Expelled."

Hermione went into the shared dorm. Nina placed herself in the open doorway, blocking the boys' view.

"She needs to straighten out her priorities." Ron shook his head. Harry and Nina looked at him.

"Get some sleep, Harry. Wood's explaining Quidditch tomorrow." Nina leaned over and kissed both boys on the cheek before turning around and walking into the dorm room.

Hermione was already halfway through changing. Nina shook her head and walked to her trunk, pulling off her robes, and then her jumper.

When Hermione was sitting on her bed, knees tucked under her chin, she saw Nina's Guild brand.

"Nina?" She kept quiet so she didn't wake Parvati, Padma or Lavender.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"W-What's it like growing up in a guild?"

Nina had to think about that one, as she pulled a t-shirt over her head.

"It's actually not to different to being in a house like Gryffindor." She pulled on a pair of Natsu's sleeping pants that she stole before pulling off her skirt. "Everybody's close. We all stick up for each other. It's one of the reasons guilded Mages are so powerful. We've got a lot to fight for. A lot to prove."

"Do you have someone to fight for?"

Nina nodded.

"My family, my Guild, you, Ron, Fred, George, Harry. Even Malfoy if there's a good reason." She pulled the covers back and climbed into bed. "Night Hermione."

"Goodnight, Nina." Hermione smiled.

In the morning, there were no classes- It was Sunday. Harry and Nina met at the portrait hole, finally in their muggle clothes again. They looked each other over. Harry was wearing a blue jumper and a pair of grey pants. Nina was wearing what looked to be men's green pants with a chain hanging from two of the belt loops. On the chain were her gate keys. The shirt she was wearing was also a man's, George's, actually. She'd stolen it from his dorm yesterday, if Harry recalled correctly.

They went down to the great hall for breakfast before meeting Wood.

"Quidditch is easy enough to understand. Each team has eight players. Two beaters, three chasers, one keeper and two seekers. That's you two." Wood opened a chest he and Harry had carried from Madame Hooch's office. "Now there are three kinds of balls. This one's called the Quaffle." He tossed it to Harry. "The chasers handle the Quaffle, and try to get it into one to those three hoops. The keeper-That's me- defends the hoops. With me so far?"

"I think so." Nina nodded. Harry tossed the Quaffle back.

"What are those?" He pointed at a pair of balls that were chained into the box. Wood rose his eyebrows. He handed Nina a beater's bat.

"You better take this. Back up, Potter." Harry took cover behind Nina when Wood let the ball go. It surged high into the air before decending again. "Careful now, it's coming back."

Nina pulled her arm back and hit the demonic ball as hard as she could. Fire errupted off the bat when it made contact.

"Hmm. Not bad, Nina. You'd make the Weasley's proud with Beater skills like that."

Nina chuckled. The ball came back and Wood caught it, though it sent him to the ground. He wrestled it back into the box, chaining it down again.

"What was that?" Harry demanded.

"Bludger. Nasty little buggers. But you two are seekers. The only one I want you to worry about, is this ball." He pulled out a little golden ball from the crest on the top of the chest.

"I like this ball." Harry took it.

"Ah, you kike it now. Just wait. It's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see."

"What do we do with it?" Nina asked, eyeing the shiny ball, fighting the urge to take it from Harry and play with it. Damn Dragon Slayer Magic- Making her attracted to shiny things. She assumed that would help with the game, though.

"You catch it. Before the other team's seekers. You catch this, and the game is over. You catch this and we win."

The snitch unfolded itself. Nina's eyes trained on it instantly, while Harry and Wood lost sight for a second. Nina jumped, grabbing it out of mid-air. Wood grinned.

"Whoa." Harry smiled

The next day, which just so happened to be Halloween, the first class they had was Charms class. Nina sat between Neville and Dean Thomas, behind Hermione and Ron.

"One of a wizards most rudimentary skills is levitation. Or the ability to make objects fly." Professor Flitwick chuckled. "Do you all have your feathers? Good. And don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing. The swish and flick."

The class repeated the motion.

"And enunciate. _Wingardium Leviosa_. Off you go then."

Neither Nina nor Hermione moved, knowing already that they could do it.

"_Wingardium Leviosar!_" Ron swished his wand, alright. And flicked it like six times.

"Stop, stop, stop! You're going to poke someones eye out!" Hermione grabbed his wrist and stopped the flicking. "Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's _Leviosa_ not _Leviosar_."

"You do it then if you're so clever. Go on, go on!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed her wand.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_." Hermione's feather floated instantly into the air.

"Well played, Granger." Nina laughed.

"Oh, Ms. Granger's done it! Well done! Well done!"

"Wingard Leviosar. Wingard Le-" Seamus's feather exploded.

"Alright, Harry?" Nina called, casting her eyes into her books.

"Yes. But I think we're going to need another feather over here."

When class was dissmissed, Nina walked out with Ron, Seamus, Harry and Dean.

"'It's _Leviosa_, not _Leviosar_.'" Ron mocked. "She's a nightmare, honestly! No wonder she hasn't got any friends!"

Hermione pushed through, bumping shoulders with Ron as she went.

"Ronald Weasley!" Nina shoved Ron roughly.

"I think she heard you." Harry sighed.

Hermione didn't show up for the rest of the day. Nina hadn't said a word to any of the Weasley's. She was determined to stay mute to them until Ron apologized to her. The twins noticed this and had stolen her wand to make her talk, before they found out through Neville why she wasn't. Now they were bugging Ron.

"Apologize to the girl, Ron!" Fred crossed his arms.

"We taught you better than to treat women like that." George mirrored the position.

"Thought you knew better."

"Guess not."

"Find her and apologize!" They snapped together.

"Speaking of Hermione..." Harry looked up. "Where is she?"

"She's been in the bathroom all afternoon. Crying." Nina sent a scathing look to Ron. The twins did as well, mumbling to themselves about Ron being like Percy.

The doors slammed open and Quirrell ran in.

"TROOLLLL! IN THE DUNGEON! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" He stopped in the middle of the great hall. There was silence all around, Dumbledore stood up quickly. "Thought you ought to know..."

Quirrell passed out. Thunder cracked, and the entire great hall errupted into screams. Fred and George each grabbed a handful of Nina's robes and hauled her up.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore ordered. Everyone froze. Nina fought the twins off of her, Fred letting go of her slower than George. "Prefects will take their houses back to their Common Rooms. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

"Gryffindors, follow me please and stay alert!" Percy led them through the hallways.

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked.

"They aren't very smart. Somebody probably let it in as a joke." Ron replied.

Nina suddenly pulled away from the Gryffindor line.

"Nina?" Harry called.

"Hermione! She doesn't know!" She responded, over her shoulder. She dashed into the girls bathroom. "Hermione! Hermione!"

Hermione came out of the stall. Nina grabbed her arm, and turned around.

"Oh no.."

The troll was behind them. Nina yanked the stall door open and pushed Hermione on the ground, covering her just as the troll demolished the doors. Hermione screamed.

Harry and Ron ran into the bathroom.

"HERMIONE MOVE!" Nina ordered.

Hermione crawled a few paces before Nina had to cover her again.

"Hey! Pea brain!" Ron threw a chunk of wood at the troll, distracting it. Nina pushed Hermione under the sinks. The troll smashed the sinks that Nina was under. She narrowly avoided the club but the shards of porcelin cut into her skin, scratching her up.

"This is ridiculous!" Nina pulled a silver key from the chain hanging on her skirt. "Open, Gate of the Clock! Horologium!"

A giant clock appeared, the celestial spirit Horologium(Who can only be described as a clock man) stepped out. Nina opened the door and shoved Hermione inside, slamming the door.

"'Hey' She cried indignantly."

"'Deal with it' I responded irritatedly." Nina rolled her eyes.

Harry charged at the troll, wand out. He grabbed onto the troll's club and it swung him up. Harry landed on it's head. And his wand went up it's nose.

Everyone made disgusted noises.

The troll sneezed, before pulling Harry off of it's head and hung him upside down.

"Nina! Ron! DO SOMETHING!"

"Do what?" Ron wailed.

"ANYTHING! HURRY!"

"'Ron, swish and flick' She said encouragingly." Horologium droned in his informative, yet boring tone.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" Ron actually said it right. The troll's club flew out of it's hand and into the air. It looked around, confused. It then looked up. Ron let the spell drop, and the club fell on the troll's head. "Cool."

The troll gave an angry groan. Nina sqealed.

"Horo! Go!"

The clock spirit vanished, making Hermione land on her bum.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Mione! Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"

"Moooo! Hello Miss Nina. Looking good." Taurus was a Minotaur looking man, with adoration for Nina in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Less passion more bashin'. Get it!" Nina pointed at the troll, who had dropped Harry.

"Awe she likes the way I mooooove!" Taurus pulled out a huge axe, and slammed it over the top of the troll's head, successfully knocking it out.

"Thanks, Taur!"

"Anything for you, Miss Nina." Love filled the Minotaur's eyes again. "Say, you free anytime soon?"

"Nope, now beat it, you pervy cow." At Nina's order, the spirit vanished.

"Is it...dead?" Hermione asked, hugging Nina's arm.

"I don't think so. Just knocked out." Harry pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. "Eugh! Troll boogers."

"Oh, my goodness!" McGonagall, Snape, Quirrell arrived at the scene. McGonagall looked over the troll and then the four students standing over it. "Explain yourselves!"

"Well, you see..."

"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall." Hermione sighed. Everyone turned to stare at her.

"What? Miss Granger?"

"I went looking for the troll." Hermione's fingers tightened on Nina's arm. "I'd read about them and thought I could handle it. But I was wrong. If Harry, Ron and Nina hadn't come to find me, I'd probably be dead."

"Be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do. I expected more rational behavior on your part and I am very disappointed in you. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor. As for the rest of you- I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. I know Miss Dragneel has fought trolls but they were young. This is a full grown mountain troll and you're lucky to be alive. Five points will be awarded to each of you. For sheer dumb luck!"

"Perhaps you ought to go. It might wake up." Quirrell hurried them out.

Nina grinned at Hermione on their way up to the Common Room.

"Looks like we found that Gryffindor bravery."


	7. Chapter 6

Fred intercepted Nina on her way to the girls dorms. He grabbed her in a hug.

"You crazy, crazy Mage!" He pulled back and shook her. "Never again! You hear me?" He pulled her up the stairs, into the dorm he shared with George and Lee, who was the only boy in their year that could put up with them. He shoved her into the bathroom and made her look in the mirror. Lee and George glanced at each other, before going back to talking pranks.

Nina's black eyes widened. Some of the scratches were still bleeding.

"That thing HURT you." Fred's voice cracked as he spoke.

"Sorry to say, Freddie- It's my job." Fred trapped her between himself and the sink. "I can't drop everything for my safety."

"You couldn't even try?" Fred grabbed a towel and wet it, dabbing at her face.

"I wouldn't want to try. I like keeping Harry safe. You don't get much thrill at age eleven if you're in a Guild. Most of us are sheltered until at least thirteen."

Fred rolled his eyes.

"And they're offering a lot of money."

"Yeah, that too. Fred, why are you bothering with me? They're just scratches."

"I don't want them infected." Fred sniffed after a short pause. "We have a Quidditch game tomorrow and Wood would end up killing me if these _scratches_ got infected. Look, this one still has sinky bits in it. Or is it toilet?"

"It's sink so come off it!"

Fred finally relaxed and chuckled softly. He finished cleaning her scratches gently. Then he walked her to her dorm and left her with a kiss on the cheek. Nina blushed and vanished into the dorm.

The next morning, Nina and Harry stood next to Wood, both panicking on the inside. Both had recieved a new broom at breakfast. Nimbus 2000's. They had formed a theory about Snape letting the troll in to get passed the three headed dog as well.

"Scared?" Wood asked.

"A little."

"Well, don't worry. I felt the same way my first game."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Uhh...I don't really remember. I took a bludger to the head two minutes in, woke up in the hospital a week later."

"You are not helping." Nina whined. The gate opened, and they all mounted their brooms. Nina and Harry gave eachother horrified looks, before taking off after Wood, followed by Fred and George, and then Katie, Angelina and Alicia.

Nina and Harry hovered over all the players, across from the two Slytherin seekers.

"The players get into position as Madame Hooch steps onto the field to begin the game!" Lee Jordan was giving commentary.

"Now I want a nice clean game. From all of you!" Madame Hooch looked pointedly at the Slytherins. Then she released the bludgers and the snitch, which Nina's eyes locked onto instantly.

"The Quaffle is released, and the game begins!"

Nina surged up higher than the Slytherin seekers.

Within seconds, Gryffindor got ten points, thanks to Angelina. And another ten points to Gryffindor a few seconds after that.

Wood stopped Marcus Flint from trying to get a goal. Flint took a Beater's bat and hit a bludger at Wood. Nina whipped her wand out, pointing it at Wood's falling form.

"_Arresto Momentum!_" Wood's fall slowed to a speed where he wouldn't get hurt.

Two Slytherin chasers gained on George, then jumped over him, landing on their broom once they passed him. The went to score a goal, but Nina blocked it with the back of her broom, covering for Wood until he got back up.

Katie caught the Quaffle, grinning at her.

Flint and another chaser corraled Katie, taking the quaffle and sending her into one of the stands. Again, Nina blocked the shot they took. Then a speck of gold caught her attention, and her head shot up. Harry had caught sight of the snitch, but his broom was out of control.

"Angealina! Cover it!" She nodded to the hoops and flew up to Harry. Just as Nina got up to him, Harry's broom threw him off.

"Ahh!" Harry held on by one hand. "I'm fine! Get the snitch."

"Sure?"

"NINA GO!"

Nina bit her lip, waiting just a second to long; Slytherin's seeker had caught sight of the snitch, and she could hear all of Gryffindor chanting the word go at her. Nina took off, her Nimbus faster than his standard model broom. She knocked shoulders with him, off balance and making him veer off to the left. In that moment, Harry got control of his broom again and flew after Nina.

The seeker had recovered already and she was neck and neck with him. Harry came up on the seeker's other side and they boxed him in, having a shoving match. The snitch took a dive, and therefore so did all three seekers. The Slytherin seeker pulled off just before the ground, Nina wrapped both legs around the handle of her broom and hovered jumping distance from the ground as Harry stood on his broom like a surf board. He reached forward, fingers just barely touching the snitch.

Nina wached him take a bad step and go flying. Which was the reason she was jumping distance from the ground. She launched herself at Harry and broke his fall for him. Gryffendors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws alike made a collective "Oooh" noise. The two seekers stood up as one, Harry gagging, and one of Nina's hands was over his mouth, the other pounding on his back.

Harry spit the snitch out, into Nina's waiting hand. They grinned at each other.

"They've got the snitch!" Lee exclaimed. "Harry Potter and Nina Dragneel earn 150 points for catching the snitch!"

"Gryffindor wins!" Madame Hooch announced, waving her hand in the air.

Everyone who was not a Slytherin errupted into cheers.

Nina raised the snitch in the air and the cheers got louder.

"Yeah, Nina!" The twins landed and picked her up, jumping up and down in a circle with her. "We knew you both could do it!"

After the game, and after Nina and Harry were showered and dirt free, they met up with Hagrid, Ron and Hermione.

"Snape was cursing Harry's broom." Hermione announced.

"Nonsense! Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?"

"Who knows? Why was he trying to get past that three headed dog?"

"Who told you about fluffy?" Hagrid asked.

"Fluffy?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"That thing has a name?" Hermione was not believing this.

"Course he has a name. He's mine!" Hagrid snapped defensively. "I bought him offa master Makarov when Nina was just a bitty baby. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-Uh..."

"Yes?" Harry encouraged.

"Shouldn't have said that. Listen now, no more questions! That's top secret, you hear?"

"But HAGRID!" Nina whined. "Whatever Fluffy is guarding, Snape's trying to steal it!"

"Cadswallop! Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher."

"Hogwarts teacher or not- I know a spell when I see one! I've read all about them. You've got to keep eye contact and Snape wasn't blinking!"

"Exactly." Nina crossed her arms, nodding at Hermione.

"Now listen. All of you. You're meddling in things that ought not be meddled in. It's dangerous. What that dog is guarding is strictly between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."

"Oh.." Nina grinned up at Hagrid. She had a pretty good Idea of what Fluffy was guarding now.

"Who's Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asked. Hagrid's eyes widened.

"I shouldn't have said that." He walked away. "I should not have said that, I shouldn't have said that."

"Who's Nicholas Flamel?" Harry repeated.

"He's an alchemist." Nina put her hands in her pockets.

Pretty soon it was winter break, and pretty much everyone was gone.

Nina sat in the great hall, watching the boys play wizard's chess while petting Happy lazily. The stupid cat was snoozing like a normal cat.

"Knight to E-5." Harry stated. Harry's knight moved itself there. Ron studied the board as Hermione walked up and stood next to Nina.

"Queen to E-5." Ron grinned. Ron's queen stood up and demolished Harry's knight.

"That's totally Barbaric!" Hermione cried.

"That's wizards chess." Ron corrected. "I see you've packed."

"I see you haven't."

"Change of plans- My parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. He's studying dragons there."

"Good. You and Nina can help Harry."

"We're going to look in the library for more information on Nicholas Flamel. When I can slip away from your two idiot twin brothers." Nina sighed. "I wonder...Is George so protective because Fred is?"

"Yup, that's part of it."

"You'll have to look in the restricted section. Happy Christmas." Hermione grinned, walking away with her trunk."

The first thing Nina did when she woke up on Christmas day was run into the Common Room. Ron was already there, wearing a maroon jumper with an 'R' on it in gold stitching.

"Happy Christmas!" Ron grinned. Harry appeared on the balcony above.

"Happy Christmas, Ronald. What are you wearing?" Nina began walking to the stack of presents.

"Oh, my mum made it. Looks like you and Harry have one too!"

"I have presents?" Harry asked, amazed.

"Yeah!"

Nina slowly opened her presents- Honneydukes from Fred, Zonkos pranks from George, a blue jumper with no letter on it from the rest of the Weasleys. There was a silver gate key from the Guild there, and a seprate present from just Natsu and then one from Master Makarov. What Natsu had given her was a picture of the two of them with Lucy, Grey and Erza. And Master Makarov had given her something she knew was always locked in his office.

"Water from the Tree of Life. I don't reccomend you use it on just any one person. It can't cure death- but it can save those so very close to it."

The water was held in a small vile in a necklace, and it was turquoise in color, announcing that it wasn't just normal water. Nina slipped the water over her neck and the new key onto her belt.

And Harry had gotten an invisibility cloak, among other things. So he went to the library while Ron and Nina went to sleep that night. Nina hung out with Fred and George most of the break, not being able to get away.

When the break was over, the first thing they did was tell Hermione that there was nothing on Flamel in the Restricted Section. She came back with a huge dusty book.

"I had you looking in the wrong section! HOW COULD I BE SO STUPID?" Hermione slammed the book down. "I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"This is light?" Ron asked. Hermione glared at him, whille Nina chuckled, opening up the book. She scanned the pages quickly.

"Yes, here it is. Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone."

"The WHAT?"

Hermione and Nina rolled their eyes at their friends.

"Honestly don't you two read?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It'l transform any metal into pure gold and produces the elixer of life, which will make the drinker immortal." Nina read softly from the book.

"Immortal?" Ron repeated.

"It means you'll never die." Hermione replied.

"I KNOW what it means!"

"Shh." Harry calmed his friend. Nina continued reading.

"The only stone currently in existance belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist, who last year celebrated his 665th birthday."

"That's what Fluffy's guarding on the third floor. That's what's under the trap door. The Sorcerer's Stone." Hermione looked at her three companions as if there was no other possibility.


	8. Chapter 7

The four students flew across the grounds in the dark of the night, pounding on the door of Hagrid's hut. The half giant opened the door.

"Oh, hello. Sorry, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to entertain today."

"We know about the Sorcerer's Stone!" All four protested when Hagrid began to shut his door.

"...Oh..." He let them in. Nina took a set at Hagrid's kitchen table.

"We think Snape's trying to steal it."

"Snape? You're not still on about him, are you?"

"Hagrid, we know Snape is after the Stone, we just don't know why!" Harry took off his cloak.

"Snape is one of the teachers protecting the Stone. He won't steal it."

"What?"

"Come on now, I'm a bit preoccupied today..." Hagrid tried to get them out. Nina sighed, and then she froze, taking another deep breath.

"What do you mean, one of the teachers?"

"Of course!" Hermione smiled. "There are other things protecting the Stone. Spells, enchantments."

"That's right. Waist of time if you ask me. Ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy. Ain't a soul knows how. Except for me and Dumbledore...I shouldn't have told you that. I should not have told you that."

Behind Hagrid, a cauldron began clicking. Hagrid turned and pulled an egg out of the cauldron. Nina sat up expectantly as Hagrid placed the egg on the table.

"Hagrid...What exactly is that?" Harry asked.

"That? It's...it's um..."

"I know what that is!" Ron grinned.

"But Hagrid..." Nina carressed the shell lovingly. "How did you get one?"

"I won it! Off a stranger down at the pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact."

The egg began shaking more violently, until the tiny creature burst out of it. Nina giggled.

"Is that..." Hermione looked at Hagrid suspiciously. "A dragon?"

"That's not just a dragon. That's a Norwegian Ridgeback." Ron exclaimed softly. "My brother Charlie works with these in Romania!"

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmered, choked up. "Oh, Bless him, he knows his mummy! Hello, Norbert." Hagrid scratched under the dragon's chin.

"Norbert?" Harry asked, skeptically.

"Well, he's gotta have a name, don't he?" Norbert suddenly burped a cloud of fire and Nina launched, catching it and stuffing it down her throat.

"Ah..." She opened her eyes and looked at her wide-eyed friends. "It's- Uh- its a Dragon Slayer Magic thing...Now I got a fire in my belly..."

Harry, Ron and Hermione chuckled. Hagrid was looking out the window.

"Who's that?"

The four students turned to look. Malfoy was looking in the windows. He jumped and took off running.

"Malfoy."

"Oh, dear." Hagrid sighed. He kicked them out soon after that.

On their way back into the castle, they were intercepted by McGonagall, who was followed by Malfoy. McGonagall took them back to her classroom.

"There is no reason for students to be out of bed after hours. Therefore as punishment for your actions, 50 points will be taken."

"Fifty?" Harry protested. Nina slammed her hand over his mouth.

"Each." McGonagall responded. "And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all five of you will recieve detention."

Malfoy blinked.

"Excuse me, Professor. Perhaps I heard you wrong. I though you said the five of us."

"No, you heard me correctly, Mr. Malfoy. Honorable as your intentions were, you two were out of bed after hours. You will join your classmates in detention."

Said detention was the next night, which honestly didn't make sense to Nina. They were being punished for being out at night by serving a detention that was...at...night. Filch was leading them to Hagrid's hut.

"Shame they let the old punishments die." Filch sighed. "There was a time when detention meant you were hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons...God I miss the screaming." Nina bit back a giggle at the look on Ron's face. "You'll be serving your detention with Hagrid. He's got a job to do inside the Dark Forest." Filch was trying his best to scare them all, but it was only really working on Malfoy. The other three had learned to only get scared if Nina looked intimidated.

Hagrid sniffled as they approached and Nina hugged him around the waist.

"What's wrong, Hagrid?"

"Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live with a colony."

"Well, that's good, isn't it? He can be with his own kind!" Hermione smiled.

"Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby!"

"Oh for God's sake, pull yourself together, man! You're going into the Dark Forest. You'll have to have your wits about you." Filch snapped.

Nina caught Harry's gaze and rolled her eyes. He smirked.

"The Forest? I thought that was a joke! We can't go in there! Students aren't allowed, and there are..." A howl peirced the night. "Werewolves!"

"There's more then werewolves in there." Nina sighed, putting her hands behind her head. "Nighty-Night, Filch. Your cat needs a good feeding."

Filch grunted and walked away.

"Right. Let's go."

Hagrid led them into the Forest. It wasnt long until he stopped at a puddle of silver liquid, dipping his fingers in and studying it.

"Hagrid, what exactly is that stuff?" Harry questioned slowly.

"The reason we're here. See that?" He showed them his fingers. "That's unicorn blood, that is. I found one dead a few weeks ago. This one's been hurt bad by something."

Nina and Harry both lifted their heads, having heard somthing moving in the trees. Hagrid followed their gaze cautiously, but saw nothing.

"It's our job to find the poor beast. Ron, Hermione, you'll come with me. Harry, Nina, you'll go with Malfoy."

"Fine," Malfoy groaned. "But I get Fang!"

"Fine...Just so you know, he's a bloody coward."

Fang gave a long whine. Nina grinned and scratched the dog's head. Malfoy got a lantern, Nina lit a fire in the air, letting it hang there between her and Harry.

"Just wait till my father hears about this! This is servant's stuff!"

"If I didn't know any better, Draco-" Nina began, holding Fang by his collar.

"We'd say you were scared." Harry finished.

"I'm not scared-" There was a noise in the distance and Malfoy jumped. Fang stopped walking, and Nina let go of his collar. "-did you hear that?"

Nina rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Fang." Harry called. The dog picked up pace again, following loyally behind the boy who lived and his guardian.

"Scared!" Malfoy scoffed.

They walked in silence for a few moments.

Fang stopped again and started growling.

"What is it, Fang?" Harry asked, turning a confused look to Nina when her fire went out. She gulped and pointed ahead of them. There was a dark figure hunched over a dead unicorn. Nina grabbed Harry's arm in a tight grip, reaching for her gate keys with the other.

The figure looked up, and Harry hissed in pain, grabbing at his scar.

The figure hissed, and Malfoy screamed loudly, taking off running with the lantern, Fang only a few steps behind him.

"Coward!" Nina snapped. She pulled Harry away as the figure began approaching. They tripped over roots in the ground, landing hard. The impact disoriented Nina for a moment. The figure went to attack, but backed up at the sound of hoof beats. A centaur came from over head, landing in front of the figure, scaring it, making it fly off into the darkness.

"Harry Potter, Nina Dragneel, you must leave. You are known in this Forest- it is not safe for you at this time." The centaur came out of the bushes.

"What was that?" Nina asked, holding her head as she sat up, before pulling Harry up.

"A monstrous creature. It's a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death. But at a terrible price. For you have slain something so pure that from the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half life. A cursed life."

"But who would choose such a life?"

"I can think of a few people, Harry. One in particular." Nina looked at him expectantly.

"Do you mean that, that thing that attacke the unicorn, that was drinking it's blood, that was Voldemort?"

"Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment, young ones?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone." Harry realized.

"Harry!"

Nina and Harry looked up. Malfoy had found Hagrid, Ron, and Hermione.

"Hello there, Firenze. See you've met these two trouble makers. You two alright."

The children nodded.

"Harry Potter, this is where I leave you. Keep him safe, Miss Dragneel. And be careful." Firenze took off. Hagrid released them from detention and they made it back to the Common Room.

"We got it wrong. Snape's not trying to steal the stone for himself-"

"He's trying to steal it for Voldemort." Nina finished Harry's sentence.

They worked out all the kinks in their plans before going to bed.

The next morning, Nina shot awake.

"Of course!"

This woke up Hermione.

"What?" She yawned, eyes watching Nina jump up and down as she got dressed.

"Oh, my God! We're so Stupid! Happy!" Nina held open her arms and the blue cat flew into her arms. She ran out the door.

When Hermione was dressed, she found Nina dragging Harry and Ron out of the portrait hole. Nina had to calm down until just before lunch- they had finals to finish up. They ran to Hagrid's hut immediately afterwards, though.

"Hagrid! Who gave you the Dragon egg?" Nina asked excitedly. "What did he look like?"

"I don't know! He kept his hood up the whole time."

"Well, the two of you must have talked!"

"Well, he seemed pretty interested in the types of creatures I looked after. I told him, 'After Fluffy, a dragon's going to be no problem!'"

"Was he interested in Fluffy?"

"Course he was interested! How often do you come across a dog with three heads? Unless you're in a Guild Cerberus's aren't common to wizards! But I told him-I said the trick with any beast is to know how to calm him. Take Fluffy, for example. A little music and he goes right to sleep!...I shouldn't have told you that."

Nina took off running again, pulling Harry with her to McGonagall's classroom.

"Professor!" She braced her hands on the desk. "We need to see Professor Dumbledore! Immediately!"

"I'm afraid he's not here." McGonagall put her quill down. The four students looked at each other in horror. This was not good.


	9. Chapter 8

"He's gone? Now? But this is important!" Harry cried.

"I'm sure it can wait unti-"

"This is about the Sorcerer's Stone." Nina was exasperated.

"How do you know-"

"Someone's going to try to steal it!"

"I don't know how you know, but I assure you, it is well protected. Now will you go back to your dormitories? Quietly."

They all sighed and quietly made their way out.

"That was no stranger Hagrid met." Nina explained her behavior. "It was Snape. He know's how to get past Fluffy."

"And with Dumbledore gone-" Hermione began, but was cut off by a chilling voice.

"Good Afternoon." Snape looked at the four Gryffindors in front of him. "What would four young Gryffindors such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?"

Nina subtly moved in front of her friends before answering.

"We were just speaking to our Head of House."

"Well, you should be careful. People may think you're," He looked at Harry, making the boy glare right back, "up to something."

"Now what do we do?" Hermione whispered once Snape had gone.

"We go down the trap door." Harry responded. Nina nodded.

"Tonight."

When they were sneaking out again, Ron with the invisibility cloak over his shoulder, they were intercepted. By Trevor the Toad.

"Trevor, go! You shouldn't be here!"

"Neither should you!" Neville stood up from the chair. "You're sneakining out again, aren't you?"

"Neville, listen-" Harry began.

"No! You're going to get Gryffindor into trouble again! I won't let you! I'll fight you!" Neville put up his fists. Nina inwardly rolled her eyes.

"It's okay Neville, it doesn't have to come to that." Nina placed her hand on the boy's shoulder. "We'll just go back upstairs if you feel so strongly."

"Really?"

"Yep. Hermione?"

"Right, Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." Hermione whipped out her wand. "_Petrificus Totalus_."

Neville went board stiff, falling back. Nina caught him, putting her jacket under his head so it wasn't laying on concrete.

"It's for your own good, Neville." She grinned. "I could kick your butt."

Ron gulped.

"You two are scary, sometimes. Brilliant...But scary."

Nina and Hermione rolled their eyes.

Everyone murmered an apology to Neville as they passed.

Under the cloak and the silence of the night, they were able to quickly move to the third floor corridor, and to Fluffy's door.

"Wait a minute." Ron muttered. "He's-" The cloak blew off with a giant exhalation.

"Snoring." Nina realized, looking at the Harp in the corner playing soft music.

"He's got horrible breath, doesn't he?" Ron asked. Nina chuckled and saw that the beast's paw was over the trap door.

"We have to move his paw!" Harry had noticed too.

They all grabbed the paw and pushed, clearing the trap door. No one noticed the harp stop playing in the background.

"I'll go first. Wait for my sign. If something bad happens, get yourselves out...Does it seem a bit...quiet to you?"

"The harp," Hermione looked over her shoulder at it. "It's stopped playing."

A giant glob of something landed on Ron's shoulder.

"Ugh! YUCK!"

Realization dawned on everybody at the same time, and they all looked up in horror.

"JUMP!" Nina ordered, pushing Harry in. Hermione followed, then Ron, and finally she jumped in heself, just as Fluffy tried to eat her. She landed softly in a plant.

"Lucky this plant was here to break the fall!" Ron grinned.

"Whoa!" Harry jumped as the plant behind his best friend started moving. Soon they were all tangled in the plant.

"Everyone relax! This is Devil's snare! If you fight it'll only kill you faster!" Hermione ordered.

"Kill us faster? Yeah, now I'm relaxed!" Ron struggled more.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she sank down.

"Hermione!"

"Just relax!" Her voice carried up from below. "Do as I say! Trust me!"

Harry listened, and sank down as well.

"Hey, Ron's not relaxing!" Nina shouted over Ron's terrified screams. She stopped moving and felt an uncomfortable squeezing sensation as she fell to the ground below.

"We gotta help him. I remember reading something in Herbology...Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare, It's deadly fun...I don't remember the rest."

"But will sulk in the sun?" Nina pulled her wand out. "_Lumos Solem._"

A brilliant bright light flew out of the tip of her wand, infused with the fire of her natural magic. The Devil's Snare wilted and Ron dropped through.

"You alright, Ron?" Nina picked him up off the ground.

"Yeah. What's that noise?"

Fluttering filled the air.

"It sounds like wings."

Nina nodded at Harry. It did indeed sound like wings. They walked into a more open room.

"What kinds of birds are these?"

"Not birds, Keys." Nina corrected.

"To open that door, but which one fits?"

"I'd say that one." Nina pointed to a rusty old key with a broken wing.

"I'll get it!" Harry grabbed the broom. All the key's swarmed around him, attacking him. He caught the rusty key, throwing it to Nina. She snatched it out of the air and went to open the door.

"Nina, Hurry!" Ron urged. Nina opened the door and stood aside. Harry flew in, followed quickly by the other three. When they had the door closed, they heard the sound of hundreds of keys hitting the thick wood.

The room they had entered was dark, with black and white stone shapes in various places.

"Where are we? A graveyard?" Hermione whispered.

Nina shook her head.

"Doesn't look like any graveyard I've seen, Hermione."

"You're right." Ron agreed. He took several paces forward before Nina could stop him. "It's a chess board."

"The door's on the other side." Harry attempted to get through. Nina pulled him back as the pawns held out their swords to stop him.

"We have to play across. Harry, give me your hand. If we're together, we're one piece."

"Right," Ron agreed. Harry slipped his hand into Nina's. "Hermione, you be the queen side castle. I'll be a knight."

They took their positions. White made their move, and the game began. By the end of the game, both teams had lost equal pieces, but team Potter was obviously loosing.

"Wait a minute." Nina murmered.

"You see what's happening, don't you? Once I make my move, the queen will take me. Then you and Harry are free to check the king, so long as you're together."

"No! Ron NO!" Harry snapped, also realizing.

"What is it?" Hermione cried.

"He's going to sacrifice himself." Nina looked at the ground.

"No! There must be another way!"

"Do you wanna stop Snape from getting that Stone, or not?" Ron asked, furiously. "It's you and Nina that have to go on. Not me, not Hermione! You!"

Harry said nothing. Ron faced forward, took a deep breath, and made his move.

"Knight to H-3." They waited in suspence as the magical chess piece bearing their friend moved on it's own. "Check."

The queen moved much quicker. Ron whimpered, and then the queen struck her sword through Ron's horse. He fell hard onto the ground, fallen chess pieces scattering around him. Hermione went to go to him, but Nina stopped her.

"He's fine. We're still playing."

"How can you tell if he's fine. Did you not see that?" Hermione cried. Nina pointed to her ears.

"I can hear his heart. He's fine."

Harry tightened his grip on her hand and as one, Gaurdian and the Chosen One, they moved to the king, glaring up at him.

"Checkmate."

The kings sword fell to the ground at their feet. Nina and Harry released hands and went to Ron, as did Hermione.

"Take care of him, then go to the owlry. Send a message to Dumbledore. Ron's right. We have to go on."

"You can do it. You two are brilliant." Hermione placed her hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Not as good as you." Nina shrugged.

"Me? Books and cleverness? There are more important things. Friendship and bravery. Just be careful."

Harry and Nina smiled at their wonderful friend, before standing up. They walked down the stairs that the door revealed. At the bottom, Harry hissed, holding his scar.

"He's here then." Nina sighed, stepping before Harry, hands gripping her keys and her wand. The person standing in the room was not Snape.

"You?" Harry was shocked. Quirrell turned around. "But you can't be. Snape, he was the one-"

"Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he?" Quirrell smirked. "Next to him, who would suspect poor, stuttering professor Quirrell?"

"Me, actually." Nina raised her hand. "I knew there was something odd about that turban."

"But that day, during the Quidditch match, Snape tried to kill me."

"No, my dear boy. I tried to kill you! And I would have succeeded if it weren't for that meddling Snape's cloak catching fire. Even with Snape muddering his little counter curse."

"Snape tried to save me?"

"And I knew little Nina was a danger to me, but especially after Halloween!"

"So you let the troll in?" Harry and Nina both took a setp forward.

"Very good. Yes. But Snape saw through me and headed to the third floor to head me off. Of course he never trusted me again. Now," He turned around to a mirror that was behind him. Harry grabbed his scar and hissed in pain again."What does this mirror do? I see what I desire-myself, holding the Stone- but how do I get it?"

_Use the boy!_

The voice floated around the room. Nina and Harry looked around wildly.

"Come here, Potter! NOW!"

Harry moved past Nina slowly, placing his hand on her shoulder to stop her from attacking.

"What do you see?"

After a few seconds of staring into the mirror, Harry jumped.

"What? What do you see?"

"I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the house cup!"

_He LIES!_

"Tell the truth!" Quirrell demanded.

"Let me speak to him." The voice now came from Quirrell's turban. Nina's eyes widened.

"Master, you are not strong enough." Quirrell became the epitome of a perfect slave.

"I have strength enough for thissss." The last word came out as a snakes hiss.

"Harry, get back!" Nina grabbed the boys arm, pulling him behind her.

"Shut the girl up! Do not kill her, she could be of use."

Nina couldn't react before Quirrell sent a spell at her, knocking her head against the stone steps.

When she woke up, she was in the hospital wing.

"Harry?" Her voice was scratchy from lack of use.

"Nina!" Harry was sitting up in a bed to her left. She would have sat up as well, if it weren't for Happy being curled up on her chest.

"Good afternoon, Harry, Nina." Dumbledore walked in.

"Professor Dumbledore! I'm sorry, I failed."

"Nina Dragneel, you did no such thing. You were caught off guard. That is not failing." He looked at the gifts around hers and Harry's beds. "Tokens from your admirers I see."

"Admirers?" Nina and Harry echoed.

"What happened down in the dungeons between the two of you and Professor Quirrell is a secret. So, naturally, the whole school knows."

"Fred and George?" Nina rose her eyebrows. The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes told her everything. She rolled her eyes. "They played me up. I didn't do anything except fall asleep!"

"That's not true!" Harry protested. "You hit your head pretty bad so I'm not shocked you don't remember. All your spirits were summoned when Voldemort tried to kill me. They stood in front of me and gave me enough time to defeat Quirrell."

Nina blinked and shook her head.

"I think I'm alright now. I'm going to go find my pesky twins, if that's alright with you, Professor."

"I think that will be just fine. Madam Pomfrey said you could leave whenever you woke up. Harry, however will have to stay."

"Alright." Nina cradled Happy and set him down next to Harry, still sleeping. She kissed Harry's cheek. "I'll see you later for the feast, my friend."

Harry blushed and nodded.

The second Nina found Fred and George in the nearly empty great hall, Fred grabbed her.

"DIDN'T I SAY NEVER AGAIN?"

"In my own defence, it wasn't a troll this time, Fred. And I'm alright, honest!" Nina grinned at George over Fred's shoulder. George just shook his head, a tiny smirk on his lips.

Everyone began filing in after a while and Fred finally let her go.

McGonagall called for silence, and then Dumbledore stood up.

"Another year gone. And now, as I understand it, the house cup needs awarding. The points stand Thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor with 262 points." All Gryffindors looked down at the table except Harry, Ron, Hermione and Nina who glared across the hall at Malfoy. "Third place, Hufflepuff with 352 points." Scattered clapping came from the twins and some other Gryffindors. "Second place, Ravenclaw, with 426 points." A few cheers went round. "First place, Slytherin with 482 points."

Slytherin errupted into cheers. Nina and Harry rolled their eyes. Nina grumpily lay her head on Fred's back, as he slouched on the table.

"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin, well done Slytherin! However, recent events must be taken into account. And I have a few last minute points to award. For Miss Hermione Granger, for the cool use of itellect while others were in grave peril, 50 points. Second, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess that Hogwarts has seen these many years, 50 points. Third, to Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, 60 points. Fourth, to Miss Nina Dragneel, for sticking by her friends, and never abandoing them, no matter what the circumstances. I award Gryffindor House 60 points."

"We're tied with Slytherin!" Hermione hissed across the table to Ron and Nina.

"And finally, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award 10 points to Neville Longbottom."

Gryffindor House errupted into cheers. Nina leaped across the table and wrapped her arms around Neville's shoulders. Neville was in shock.

"Assuming my calculations are correct, I believe a change of decoration is in order." Dumbledore clapped his hands and raised them. The Slytherin banners hanging above the students changed into Gryffindor ones. "Gryffindor wins the House Cup."

This time Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joined Gryffindors in cheering, all tossing their black hats in the air, glad Slytherin wasn't winning.

The next day, Nina hung out the door of the scarlet train, watching Harry say goodbye to Hagrid with Ron and Hermione next to her. Happy sat prominantly on her shoulder.

"It feels strange to be going home, doesn't it?" Hermione asked, once Harry got to them.

"I'm not going home. Not really." Harry smiled.

The train whistle blew, and the train left station. Nina and Harry looked out the window, waving at Hagrid, wondering what adventures waited next year.


	10. Chapter 9

Nina yawned. The summer was almost over. Right now she was sitting across from Mirajane, who was, as usual, working behind the bar. She had a Butterbeer, which Fred and George had gotten her addicted to, cradled in her hand as she watched various Guild members crowding around the job board.

"What's up with them? Most of them are usually just sitting around getting plastered."

Miarjane giggled. Nina smiled, relaxed for the first time in absolute ages.

Nina had been working practically non-stop all summer. Especially when Lucy came for a visit, and her fater distroyed the Guild to get her back. It was under construction though, and getting back into order. However, Nina had ended up loosing her keys at one point.

"Hey, you haven't seen Loke, have you?"

"You haven't fallen for him, have you? Nina you know he's the resident playboy!"

"Mira! It's not like that. I just heard he was the one who found my keys. I just wanted to thank him." Nina held up said keys, which Natsu had given to her at some random point last night shouting about Loke.

"Were your spirits mad at you? For dropping the keys?"

"You could say that. One spirit in particular..." Nina shuddered, thinking of Aquarius. "Just thinking about her threats make my butt hurt."

"I could cool it for ya." Gray came out of nowhere. Nina's eye twitched. She may have been on better terms with Gray than Natsu, but-

"That sounded like sexual harassment to me."

"Nina can you show me how red your butt is?" Happy asked, flying behind her, a hopeful look in his cat eyes.

"AND WITH THAT COMMENT YOU'VE CROSSED THE LINE!"

Natsu's hand caught fire.

"I wonder what her reaction will be once I actually make it hurt," Natsu grinned evilly.

"You're the devil!" Nina hissed. A giant barrel came out of nowhere, hitting Natsu.

"Why don't you say that to the rest of the guild?" Erza growled. She was standing ridgid in front of Laxus, Makarov's grandson.

"Gladly. This Guild is nothing but a bunch of losers and weaklings. Especially you, Princess." Laxus turned to face Nina. "Taking a job that seals almost all of your Non-Celstial Magic, except for maybe a little steam? Please." He scoffed.

"LAXUS!" Mirajane shouted. She never shouted. Not ever. "No one is to blame for Lucy's father's decisions. Especially not Nina! Besides, I begged you to come help us and you refused!"

"Oh, stop your whining! If I had joined that fight odds are none of you would be drowning your sorrows in this pile of rubble!"

"Why you-"

"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!" Natsu stood up and went to attack Laxus, but the man vanished and reappeared in a flash of lightning. "I'm going to destroy you, Laxus!"

"Idiot! How can you destroy me if you can't even touch me?" Laxus mocked. "I can't wait until I inherit this place and kick all you losers out. Your days in Fairy Tail are numbered kids! Things are gonna be a whole lot different around here. So I guess you'll have to find a new place to hang out." He laughed as he vanished again, not coming back.

"What a jerk." Nina huffed, sitting back down at the bar. "Anyone who treats his fellow Guild members like that doesn't deserve to be Fairy Tail's leader."

"A lot of people think that's why Master Makarov won't retire." Mirajane admitted.

"Man I hate that guy!" Natsu growled.

"Don't worry about it. He takes up too much time and energy. How about we take your mind off him by taking a job?" Erza smiled. "We can even bring Gray and Nina."

"Say what?"

"Awww!" Nina bashed her head against the bar.

"Hey, Gray, your clothes."

"Gah!" Gray looked down to find himself only in his underwear.

"Us?" Nina asked.

"Yes. We've always worked together, ever since the Eisenwald incident when you were ten. Even when you were at school I guess it was always Gray, Natsu and I. We're kinda a team."

"Are you sure you even want someone like me on your team? All my magic is mostly sealed."

"Like you?" Natsu cried. "Nina it has to be exactly you!" He pulled his now twelve year old sister off the stool she sat on. "It wouldn't be right if it weren't with you!"

Nina grinned at her brother.

"Thanks, Natsu."

Then next day, they were already back from the mission.

"Whatsa matter, Nina?" Mirajane asked, watching the girl groan.

"It's that job we did yesterday. Natsu kept throwing fire everywhere. Gray kept freezing stuff he missed. And Erza..OH, DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HER!"

"I could have told you about this..."

"They destroyed half the town! And we're paying for it out of the reward! If this keeps up Natsu and I aren't going to be able to pay rent!" Nina whined.

"Well I may just have a special job I can throw your way!" Mirajane grinned.

"Hmm?"

"This one's right up your alley and the best part is your team won't be able to destroy anything!"

Nina blinked twice.

**And so we move on!(One of Happy's little scene changes! Yay!)**

"Hey, Onibus! I haven't been here in forever!" Nina grinned. Erza was walking with her massive cart of belongings, Gray was next to Nina with his hands behind his head, and Natsu was crippled from the train ride over.

"So let me get this straight. All we have to do is draw a crowd to some run down theater with our magic?" Gray clearified.

"Yep! Natsu draws them with his fire-Which the Ministry of Magic though wise to seal off for the summer, which you know I'm pissed about- you make beautiful ice sculptures, Erza attracts them by Requiping her Armor. I can at least summon Lyra to sing beautiful tunes. Wow."

They all stopped in front of a huge theater.

"Pretty classy, huh?" Happy grinned.

"Excuse me-" A man popped his head out the door. "I don't suppose you're the wizards from Fairy Tail, are you?"

"That's us!" The man let them in.

"Well...We have a problem. All my actors are gone!"

"WHAT? All your actors just up and walked out on you?"

"Yes. The plays have been getting bad reviews, so they left, just like my wife. Now I can never redeem myself."

"Man," Gray sighed. "I thought the actors were the dramatic ones."

"I had no choice! The preformance has been canceled!"

"Well, the show must fo on!" Erza announced. "We will star in your play!" She began doing vocal scales.

"It sounds like fun," Nina shrugged. Natsu nodded.

"That settles it, then. We're not gonna let your dream die, sir." Gray smiled. The man gasped.

"Really?"

After a week of tireless work, the guildmasters, Mirajane and this guy, Bora, who had originally brought Nina, Natsu and Lucy together showed up.

"So, what you been up to, Maroka?" Natsu put a casual, yet protective hand on his sister's shoulder.

"That would be Bora." He smiled. "After recieving a beatdown at your capable hands I decided to give up the ways of a model scout."

"You don't honestly think anyone's buying that, do you?" Nina deadpanned, thinking of how he almost kidnapped Lucy to sell her to slavery.

"Hmm? Why else would I recruit young ladies?"

"Cause you-"

"Nina and Lucy thought you were doing dirty things with them!" Happy flew up to shoulder level with Natsu.

Nina took off to go get changed into the princess costume outfit she had to wear.

"Nina! I haven't sung in front of an audience this big before!" Lyra whined.

"Don't be nervous, you'll blow them away!" Nina told her celestial spirit friend. A buzzer went off over head, and everyone went to their marks.

Lyra began her song. The crowd was mesmerized.

Erza went to say her lines, and completely froze.

"Oh, this isn't gonna be good."

"She's totally freezing up!" Nina hissed, agreeing with Gray.

"She's got a mean case of stage fright!" Natsu added.

"Uh-oh..." Happy nodded.

"Here ye here-...My name." Erza started shaking horrible. "I'm a Prince! I came to save the princess! I wield the power- the power-"

"Oh no, she skipped way ahead! That's a line from a totally different scene!" Nina flipped through the playwrite.

"Erza's so nervous, I'm not even sure she's breathing!"

"I wield the power- BECAUSE I HAVE TEN SWORDS!" Erza's magic kicked in, making ten swords fly out and go towards the audience.

"She's freaking out!" Happy cried, needlessly.

"What do we do, Princess?" Gray had appointed this as Nina's new nickname.

"Well, we're just going to have to go out there and save her and the show!"

"When do I get to go on?" Natsu whined.

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!"

Happy lowered a tied up Nina over the stage.

"Save me, dear Prince...uh...Frederick...From the evil...Veldemord..."

"I am Julius, if you want to save the Princess, you'll have to cross blades with me!" Gray walked out onto stage.

"Who the heck's this guy?" A guy called out.

"YEAH, WHAT HAPPENED TO VELDEMORD?"

Erza turned to Gray, blue in the face.

"I challenge you...Challenge youuu-"

"Whoa, she's completely lost it."

"I have an idea!" Nina hissed. "Open, Gate of the clock- Horologium!"

The clock apeared onstage in a cloud of smoke. Erza used this opportunity to climb inside.

"'We will fight. DUEL' The prince says timidly."

Nina tried desperately not to laugh at the looks of all the people in the audience. There was a collective look of 'Huh?' going around.

"How good of you to come, Great Clock! The prince was in need of a moments rest!"

Erza quickly composed herself, pushing the door of Horologium open.

"I have found my breath! We will fight, Julius!" Erza pointed her sword.

"That we shall. My Ice sword-"

"Against my...Ten Swords!" Erza's magic kicked in and fired 10 swords at Gray.

"I'm outta here Nina!" Gray took off.

"Thank you, Prince, for saving me."

"Please! Princess Anderica, marry me and we will have many children. Like...Thirty-three!"

"The calm before the storm cometh noweth! Now come forth and char him my dragon!"

The stage shook and out came Natsu dressed as a dragon with Happy flying him around while Natsu spit fire.

"Rahh! I'm a powerful dragon, I will destroy you all! YAHHH!"

Nina resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"We must slay this dragon!"

"Right!"

"I'LL TAKE CARE OF THE DRAGON! YOU TWO GET TO SAFETY!"

"The princess is gonna slay it?" Came a confused voice. Nina cracked a grin.

Happy dropped the dragon, and Natsu couldn't cut off the fire in time to stop setting Nina's dress on fire.

"GRAY!" Nina began to run over to him, but Erza jumped over him and cut Nina's dress entirely off, leaving her in a tight tanktop and a pair of booty shorts.

"ERZA!" Gray snapped, covering Nina with his cloak, which he was wearing for his part as Julius.

"Princess, are you alright?"

"How did you end up getting the lead in this play?" Nina snapped. Taurus came up from below stage, without being summoned.

"AW! The Princess's hot body really Moooooves me!"

"Who said you could pop out and embarass me?" Nina whined.

"Sorry but I thought you were in trouble. I promised to protect you, Miss Nina. With all that Moooves!" He vanished, winking at her with a thumbs up.

Gray and Natsu were chasing each other around, destroying everything. Erza joined the fight, demanding they be punished.

"THIS IS WAY OUT OF HAND!" Nina cried.

"Yes!" The play writer cried. "YES!"

"This is not gonna be good!"

Nina was right. The entire theater split in two, parting around them like the Red Sea.

"I KNEW IT!"

But the crowd errupted into cheers as Erza lifted Natsu while he breathed fire at Gray.

"They loved it!" The writer continued. "YES!"

Nina, despite herself, smiled at the man.

This continued for a week, three shows a day.

"Get up! The show must go on, you lazy bums!"

"Are we done? I wanna go home now!" Nina whined.


End file.
